Updated Softcovers for Kort'thalis Publishing

All three of these have had a face-lift over the last couple weeks...

Trilogy of Awesome +1 includes Slippery When Wet (Alpha Blue), A Green Jewel They Must Possess (The Outer Presence), and Slaves of Tsathoggua (Crimson Dragon Slayer)... plus the bonus Death Race: Fury Road.

Trilogy of Awesome Returns +1 includes High-Stakes Q'uay-Q'uar (Alpha Blue), His Flesh Becomes My Key (The Outer Presence), and Stairway of V'dreen (Crimson Dragon Slayer)... plus the bonus scenario Guarding Galaxy XXX (Alpha Blue).

Dead God Excavation includes the scenario Dead God Excavation (Crimson Dragon Slayer), La Bas Chartreuse (The Outer Presence), and the brand new Totally Random Tables.  Usually, I release the PDF and weeks or months later the content appears in softcover - not so this time!

What's new?  A few things have been cleaned up and corrected, and Dead God Excavation should be much easier to read now... 

But most of all, they're on fancy, heavier paper and full-color.  Many of the illustrations are still in black and white, but these books are now higher quality - befitting the fine-ass, weird, gonzo sleaze you've come to expect from Kort'thalis Publishing.

Enjoy,

VS

Totally Random Tables

How many d6 tables does it take to get to the center of a gonzo campaign?  Thirty.  The answer is most definitely 30.  And I can prove it...

Yes, I've got a new PDF for GMs looking for something a little different.  As the title hopefully indicates, these tables are filled with results that are unique and purely stream-of-consciousness.  There's no overall theme, genre, or any other guiding principle - except that it all came from my diseased mind.

Check out Totally Random Tables right here!  2018 Gold ENnie award winning layout and graphic designer Glynn Seal of MonkeyBlood Design did the interior.  It's retro-futuristic funky and I love it!

And if you use it in one of your games, please let me know.  I want to read about all the gory details.  ;)

VS

Blue Balls Tracker

Admittedly, these are not the best pictures. I took them quickly before running out of the house on my way to work.

But, as you can see - they allow Alpha Blue players to track their characters' blue balls - females, too!  How horny are they?  How desperate?  What kind of bonus (carrot) or penalty (stick) is in store for them?

Like keeping track of a vampire's blood supply, this creates a sense of urgency - it's an incentive to bone!  Sure, there was bonus Health before... but this is better.  At least, I think so.  I've playtested it a few times, and it seems to be a hit with players.

If you're not sure, try it in a demo game and see what happens.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.  Timid players especially will appreciate something in-hand that they can point to and say, "This right here!  This is why my character is chatting up the three-breasted green-skinned babe at the bar.  It's not because I'm a colossal pervert, OK?"

So, if you purchase the Kobayashi Maroon PDF, the Blue Balls Tracker comes with it. 

Both a colored version you can print off and use, as well as, a black and white version that you can color in yourself.  I literally have hundreds of random markers, colored pencils, and crayons all over my house.

Let me know your thoughts.  And happy tracking!

VS

Roll20 Woke All Over Themselves

So, now Roll20 is dicking over gamers (their own customers, actually) because that's the woke thing to do. 

I mean, it just makes good business sense to shit on the people who support you, who make up your audience so that you can instead cater to a tiny but extremely vocal group of political extremists who want things done the SJW way.  Duh!

Personally, I think the CEO / co-founder / managing partner of Roll20, Nolan T. Jones, should step down from his position.  I don't think changing the reddit moderating staff is going to cut it.

Not just for banning that guy, but for being a racist piece of shit.  Apparently, white guys needn't apply regarding helping to promote or grow roleplaying games online.  I mean, it's similar to the Papa Johns thing, right? 

Thanks to Jeremy Hambly for the video and altering me to this unfortunate news. 

VS

Trinity Going Bye-Bye

In a couple days, I'm taking down both Trinity of Awesome +1 and Trinity of Awesome Returns +1 from Amazon.

In a few weeks, they'll be replaced with a new title (in the case for ToA+1) and new title and altered cover (in the case of ToAR+1).  Plus, the interior will be color.  While the illustrations are all black and white, the blood-spattered parchment color of the internal layout will be present.  I'm sure there will be other little colorful touches in there, as well.

Why the change?  Well, one of my daughters is named Trinity, and my wife believes that anything Alpha Blue is too inappropriate to have her name on it.  At the time, I didn't consciously make the connection, but can see her point.  Changing the titles and that cover art of the 2nd book were concessions I had to make in order to keep my gigantic Alpha Blue canvas print.

Those changes would've had to been made sooner or later, so might as well do it now.  I'll be consulting with Glynn Seal of MonkeyBlood Design on the details.

So, if you want to get one or more books on Amazon before they're gone, do so today or tomorrow.  By Saturday, they'll be gone forever... only to be reborn like a phoenix.  Gaaa!  That's another one of my kids' names.  Damn it.

VS

p.s.  Are you loving Kobayashi Maroon?  If so, please write a review!

Kobayashi Maroon & Alpha Blue Open License

The latest supplement for Alpha Blue is out now!  Grab it here!!!

I hope you show Zoltar Khan Delgado the same love and support you've shown me over the years.  Also, keep the appreciation going for Gold ENnie Winner Glynn Seal of MonkeyBlood Design.  He laid the shit out of this PDF.

Here's the very first review!

But that's not all... I'm officially opening up the license for your very own Alpha Blue scenario, supplement, setting, or sourcebook (the 4 s's)...

From now until the end of 2019, anyone can publish their own work that uses Alpha Blue's name, rules, intellectual property (yes, feel free to borrow Grabba the Butt, Zervalan, filthy klorians, etc.), and logo.

And if you'd like to hit me up for a review or critique at any point in the creation/publishing process, please do so.  I'd love to be a part of your vision!

VS

Jeremy Hambly Banned from GenCon

Apparently, GenCon isn't done shitting on Jeremy Hambly.  It shouldn't matter, but I'll remind everyone that Jeremy of The Quartering and Unsleeved Media fame (infamy?) is a politically moderate guy who calls corporations and individuals on their shit, but has never called for violence.

Here is my first post about it.  This is the second.  And the third.

So, I'm currently watching Jeremy's latest video...

So, basically Jeremy Hambly has been indefinitely banned from GenCon.  He got beat-up just outside the convention walls last August, and now GenCon is punishing him for no reason other than he's not a far-left SJW who punches Nazis.

This bullshit is so fucked up, I'm actually still in shock and still processing.  One hundred and eleven percent NOT attending GenCon if this is how they're going to treat attendees!!!

There are so many awesome smaller gaming cons that aren't motivated by disgusting politics.  Let's consider those next year.  Get Woke Go Broke!

VS

Even Better Than A Survey

Mike Mearls sent off some tweets, and the rest is history... or argument.  Yeah, probably just a bunch of geeks arguing about D&D.  Good times!

This ENworld thread has just exploded with cutting barbs, jabs, thrusts, edition warring cloaked in design preferences, ignorance, nerd rage, ruining the hobby, and the OSR.  All the hits!

Basically, 5e is the modern equivalent of old school D&D.  Well, as much as they could get away with and still appease the masses (O5R).  Regardless of modern concessions, a few people still don't like it.  And of course, many grognards believe 5e didn't go far enough (into the past).

Reading that behemoth of a thread should give WotC all the understanding it needs to go forward and continue the legacy of Dungeons & Dragons.

It almost seems as if we're headed for a paradigm shift - gamers realizing that endless character optimization choices and rules for everything under the sun isn't real roleplaying, and those preferring endless crunch, micro-balance, and systems protecting players from GM decisions (right or wrong) is objectively less fun... and also not D&D.

So, how do you feel about this great 5e debate and what does it mean for D&D specifically and RPGs in general?

VS

p.s.  If readers want me to pull up specific posts/arguments and talk about them, say so in the comments!

The Predator Kicks Ass

Don't have a lot of time for this review, but here goes nothing...

I think I've only seen 2 movies so far this year.  Solo and The Predator.  Comparatively, I enjoyed The Predator more than both Solo and The Last Jedi.  This new Predator movie also beat out Predator 2 and Predators... as well as, all the Alien vs. Predator movies.

In fact, 2018's Predator is almost better than the original.  Yeah, that feels sacrilegious to say (or type, rather) but is nonetheless true.

Why is it so good?  Why are critics hating on it?  Where are the big box office numbers? All excellent questions... that I'm not going to answer.

Well, I'll briefly tell you why I thought it was good - straight-up 80's action, humor (I literally laughed more than most comedies), character development, and special effects. 

Sure, I would have loved to see more practical effects than CGI.  And, yes, I'm always disappointed when a movie this awesome has everything except female nudity.  But regardless of those two things, The Predator had what I was looking for.

See it!  Because if Predator fans don't see this movie, they might not make a sequel, and that would be a real shame.

VS

p.s. And if you think this has my juices flowing for some Alpha Blue treatment... you'd be right!